Drill, Obama! Drill!

[Spartikus]

WASHINGTON – In a reversal of a long-standing ban on most offshore drilling, President Barack Obama is allowing oil drilling 50 miles off Virginia's shorelines. At the same time, he is rejecting some new drilling sites that had been planned in Alaska.

Obama's plan offers few concessions to environmentalists, who have been strident in their opposition to more oil platforms off the nation's shores. Hinted at for months, the plan modifies a ban that for more than 20 years has limited drilling along coastal areas other than the Gulf of Mexico.

Obama was set to announce the new drilling policy Wednesday at Andrews air base in Maryland. White House officials pitched the changes as ways to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil and create jobs — both politically popular ideas — but the president's decisions also could help secure support for a climate change bill languishing in Congress.

The president, joined by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, also was set to announce that proposed leases in Alaska's Bristol Bay would be canceled. The Interior Department also planned to reverse last year's decision to open up parts of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Instead, scientists would study the sites to see if they're suitable to future leases.

Obama is allowing an expansion in Alaska's Cook Inlet to go forward. The plan also would leave in place the moratorium on drilling off the West Coast.

In addition, the Interior Department has prepared a plan to add drilling platforms in the eastern Gulf of Mexico if Congress allows that moratorium to expire. Lawmakers in 2008 allowed a similar moratorium to expire; at the time President George W. Bush lifted the ban, which opened the door to Obama's change in policy.

Under Obama's plan, drilling could take place 125 miles from Florida's Gulf coastline if lawmakers allow the moratorium to expire. Drilling already takes place in western and central areas in the Gulf of Mexico.

The president's team has been busy on energy policy and Obama talked about it in his State of the Union address. During that speech, he said he wanted the United States to build a new generation of nuclear power plans and invest in biofuel and coal technologies.

"It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development," he warned.

Obama also urged Congress to complete work on a climate change and energy bill, which has remained elusive. The president met with lawmakers earlier this month at the White House about a bill cutting emissions of pollution-causing greenhouse gases by 17 percent by 2020. The legislation would also expand domestic oil and gas drilling offshore and provide federal assistance for constructing nuclear power plants and carbon sequestration and storage projects at coal-fired utilities.

White House officials hope Wednesday's announcement will attract support from Republicans, who adopted a chant of "Drill, baby, drill" during 2008's presidential campaign.

The president's Wednesday remarks would be paired with other energy proposals that were more likely to find praise from environmental groups. The White House planned to announce it had ordered 5,000 hybrid vehicles for the government fleet. And on Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department are to sign a final rule that requires increased fuel efficiency standards for new cars.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100331/...obama_drilling

About damn time!

[jeremyc74]

As far as I'm concerned, energy dependency is the leading threat to this nation right now, and anything we can do to reduce it is good, provided it's done right.

Expanding domestic oil production has to be a part of any national security policy that's actually going to do any good, but I also want to see serious conservation efforts and alternative energy (mainly solar) funding to start weening us off fossil fuels.

With the shape the world economy is in right now, it's honestly hard to predict what's going to happen to the purchasing power of the dollar in overseas markets over the next few years. Food and manufacturing can be internalized if imports become too expensive, but right now we're going to have to import energy no matter what it costs, or shut the country down.

Our leaders have to be able to see this threat as well.

In short, lets focus on new energy, but in the meantime.....drill baby, drill.

[742]

One big step in the right direction.

"Under Obama's plan, drilling could take place 125 miles from Florida's Gulf coastline..."

Now all we have to do is change "could" to "will" to make that two big steps.

[Spartikus]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

In short, lets focus on new energy, but in the meantime.....drill baby, drill.

I agree with you big time. Hopefully it will create a decent amount of jobs as well.

[solefald]

As liberal as i am, i never understood what the big fucking deal was about drilling here.
Shit, even Russia is drilling in Cuban waters right now. I say it's a good step.

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by solefald

As liberal as i am, i never understood what the big fucking deal was about drilling here.
Shit, even Russia is drilling in Cuban waters right now. I say it's a good step.

Well, honestly it does make a mess, and there's the potential for serious environmental damage if it's not well controlled.

The other thing that was always brought up is that it makes sense to save domestic oil reserves and let other countries burn through theirs while prices are relatively low and there's plenty of supply.

The problem I see with that is how quickly the markets are able to shift these days, with prices doubling and tripling in a very short time frame, which is dangerous to the overall economy. I think the time has come to start using more domestic energy resources, and at the same time putting serious efforts into alternatives that will make them obsolete by the time we run out.

[TMNT]

As long as we don't "forget" to continue investing and reseaching alternative fuels for use in the future, I'm ok with this move. I just don't want everyone thinking everything is fine and dandy again and go back to their old ways of waste.

[EDK99]

To bad he is not allowing us to drill in the places that actually have lots of oil like Alaska and parts of the Gulf.

http://gopleader.gov/News/DocumentSi...umentID=179192

Edit:
And after a little more digging what he announced may not result an any drilling.

http://blog.heritage.org/2010/04/01/...gy-shell-game/

In fact, if anything, the policies announced by President Obama yesterday will actually decrease and delay future U.S. oil production. The President actually canceled four lease sales off the Alaska coast that were planned to begin producing oil within the next two years, delayed a planned lease off Virginia until at least 2012, and placed some areas off limits for at least seven years.

[solefald]

In fact, if anything, the policies announced by President Obama yesterday will actually decrease and delay future U.S. oil production. The President actually canceled four lease sales off the Alaska coast that were planned to begin producing oil within the next two years, delayed a planned lease off Virginia until at least 2012, and placed some areas off limits for at least seven years.

Perhaps because drillin Alaska would give Palin a HUGE advantage? It's her home state, she always wanted to drill there and the spin that she can put on it will be a big blow to Democrats?

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by EK_335i

To bad he is not allowing us to drill in the places that actually have lots of oil like Alaska and parts of the Gulf.

http://gopleader.gov/News/DocumentSi...umentID=179192

Edit:
And after a little more digging what he announced may not result an any drilling.

http://blog.heritage.org/2010/04/01/...gy-shell-game/

Neither one of those organizations is a legit source. They're both GOP funded, and they're full of shit. Even the oil companies are saying good things about this, and the environmentalists are pissed about it. That's how you can tell it's actually doing something.

[UncleWede]

That "natural seepage" I used to step in walking the beaches of Santa Barbara has mysteriously dried up. I'm one for drilling OFFSHORE, but not with 5 miles of the beautiful coastlines we have over here.

[scollins]

It was only a bad idea when it was a Republican idea....

[bolinp78]

Originally Posted by scollins

It was only a bad idea when it was a Republican idea....

win

[TwinTurboXI]

Originally Posted by scollins

It was only a bad idea when it was a Republican idea....

True, Obama is trying to make some concessions to the republicans so he can get some co2 abatement legislation moved through eventually.

He made the Florida gulf coastline off limits because Florida has a rather large amount of voting power (electoral college, reps etc) and he didn't wanna piss them off. He made the Atlantic coastline below jersey drill-able to give concessions to all those states, most of which are republican states. And when you look at some information on the projections of the Atlantic coastal oil fields, they are pretty much non existent.

He did open up a nice chunk of drill-able space in the Gulf though...

[uberschnell]

This may put a dent in those plans

[Zell]

Whatever happened to those renewable energy programs? I can't stand the fact that we continue to use fossil fuels for transportation. Oil has too many other vital uses to be burned away. Not to mention, it's causing various other damages that will be bad for us in the long-term.

[HoustonScott]

There is not such thing as renewable energy. Wind, solar, what ever when you use the power you still have to go get more wind or sun.

HS

[xbook]

So how is that whole drill baby drill thing working out for the gulf of mexico right now ?

[HoustonScott]

Its working fine for me...Read this....

The U. S. Geological Service issued a report in April ('08) that only scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big. It was a revised report ( hadn't been updated since '95) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota ; western South Dakota ; and extreme eastern Montana ..... check THIS out:

The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska 's Prudhoe Bay , and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels.. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable... at $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5.3 trillion.

'When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their jaws hit the floor. They had no idea.' says Terry Johnson, the Montana Legislature's financial analyst.

'This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years.' reports, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It's a formation known as the Williston Basin , but is more commonly referred to as the 'Bakken.' And it stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada . For years, U. S. oil exploration has been considered a dead end. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken's massive reserves.... and we now have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!

That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for2041 years straight.

2. And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should - because it's from TWO YEARS AGO!

U. S. Oil Discovery- Largest Reserve in the World!
Stansberry Report Online - 4/20/2006


Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. In three and a half years of high oil prices none has been extracted.. With this motherload of oil why are we still fighting over off-shore drilling?

They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth. Here are the official estimates:

- 8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia
- 18-times as much oil as Iraq
- 21-times as much oil as Kuwait
- 22-times as much oil as Iran
- 500-times as much oil as Yemen
- and it's all right here in the Western United States .

HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this? Because the [ environmentalists ] Al Gore and others have blocked all efforts to helpAmerica become independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting a small group of people dictate our lives and our economy.....WHY?

James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we've got more oil in this very compact area than the entir e Middle East -more than 2 TRILLION barrels untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today, reports The Denver Post.

HS

[742]

Originally Posted by HoustonScott

Its working fine for me...Read this....

The U. S. Geological Service issued a report in April ('08) that only scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big. It was a revised report ( hadn't been updated since '95) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota ; western South Dakota ; and extreme eastern Montana ..... check THIS out:

The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska 's Prudhoe Bay , and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels.. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable... at $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5.3 trillion.

'When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their jaws hit the floor. They had no idea.' says Terry Johnson, the Montana Legislature's financial analyst.

'This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years.' reports, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It's a formation known as the Williston Basin , but is more commonly referred to as the 'Bakken.' And it stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada . For years, U. S. oil exploration has been considered a dead end. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken's massive reserves.... and we now have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!

That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for2041 years straight.

2. And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should - because it's from TWO YEARS AGO!

U. S. Oil Discovery- Largest Reserve in the World!
Stansberry Report Online - 4/20/2006


Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. In three and a half years of high oil prices none has been extracted.. With this motherload of oil why are we still fighting over off-shore drilling?

They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth. Here are the official estimates:

- 8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia
- 18-times as much oil as Iraq
- 21-times as much oil as Kuwait
- 22-times as much oil as Iran
- 500-times as much oil as Yemen
- and it's all right here in the Western United States .

HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this? Because the [ environmentalists ] Al Gore and others have blocked all efforts to helpAmerica become independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting a small group of people dictate our lives and our economy.....WHY?

James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we've got more oil in this very compact area than the entir e Middle East -more than 2 TRILLION barrels untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today, reports The Denver Post.

HS

http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/bakken.asp

And

http://web.archive.org/web/200604231...05-OIL-COL.asp

[HoustonScott]

Hey here is a little thing Obama has forgotten to tell you.....Remember when he said BP is responsible and will be paying the bill....What guess what the law says.....

While it's true that the federal Oil Pollution Act, enacted in 1990 in response to the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, makes BP responsible for cleanup costs, the law caps the company's liability for economic damages — such as lost wages, shortened fishing seasons or lagging tourism — at $75 million!

HS

[xbook]

Originally Posted by HoustonScott

Hey here is a little thing Obama has forgotten to tell you.....Remember when he said BP is responsible and will be paying the bill....What guess what the law says.....

While it's true that the federal Oil Pollution Act, enacted in 1990 in response to the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, makes BP responsible for cleanup costs, the law caps the company's liability for economic damages — such as lost wages, shortened fishing seasons or lagging tourism — at $75 million!

HS

Is your point to try and defend BP? Or make President Obama out to be the bad guy here? Not really sure what you are trying to say.